Erwin Chemerinsky

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 07.11.16

* In case you haven't been keeping score like we have, these are the firms that recently raised salaries: Duval & Stachenfeld; Seyfarth Shaw; and Foley & Lardner. If you’re worried you’ve missed any of our coverage on pay raises, check out our omnibus 2016 salary chart where we collect these stories. [2016 Salary Increase / Above the Law] * Lawyers are "the best-paid writers in the world," so grammar god Bryan Garner suggests they emulate one of the greatest language snoots of them all: the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Garner identifies with Scalia's textualism because "[he] believe[s] that words have meaning, and that we should take them seriously." [Wall Street Journal] * According to constitutional law scholar Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Irvine Law, SCOTUS may be at a turning point since the next president will likely be able nominate up to four justices. "Whether you see yourself as conservative or liberal ... this affects all of us, our most intimate and important aspects of our lives." [Los Angeles Times] * Lawyers for Led Zeppelin are seeking about $800K in costs and legal fees for their defense of the seminal rock band in the "Stairway to Heaven" copyright infringement suit. Peter Anderson, the band's lead counsel in the case, claims that his $330 per hour rate is "actually below" the going rate for this caliber of high-profile work. [Ars Technica] * Venezuelan authorities have arrested a woman connected to Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, for allegedly being "in charge of seeking customers to invest illicit funds in outsourcing-type business arrangements." She's been charged with illegally obtaining funds in violation of banking regulations. [Reuters]

By Staci Zaretsky
Sponsored Content

Skills That Set Firms Apart

Legal expertise alone isn’t enough. Today’s most successful firms invest in developing the skills that drive collaboration, leadership, and business growth. Our on-demand, customizable training modules deliver practical, high-impact learning for attorneys and staff—when and where they need it.

By Barbri
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.24.16

* "Next thing I know he knocks me over backwards, puts the pillow over me and he cuts my throat and stabs me." Law firm partner Leo Fisher testified yesterday in the trial against Andrew Schmuhl, the lawyer accused of abducting and maliciously wounding him. We'll have more on this horrifying testimony later. [Washington Post] * In a move that's sure to attract attention (and ire) from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, Bayer has offered to buy Monsanto for $62 billion. This may be the largest all-cash takeover in history, so we wonder which law firms will have the pleasure of reaping all the rewards that come with so huge of a deal representation. [Reuters] * "Can citizens sue the government over climate change?" Great legal minds are divided over the answer to this question. Constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky says yes, but international law savant Eric Posner says no. Whatever you think is the right answer, it's time we get more aggressive on this issue. [Room for Debate / New York Times] * With Ted Olson quarterbacking Tom Brady's request for an en banc hearing of his four-game Deflategate suspension before the Second Circuit, perhaps this case has a fighting chance. Patriots fans should be praying, because an en banc hearing could result in their QB's suspension being stayed for the start of the season. [WSJ Law Blog] * Victims of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood attack have filed suit against the clinic, claiming the shooting was both "predictable and preventable." They say that given the past history of threats of violence against places where abortions are performed, patrons should've been alerted that they were at risk of injury or death. [Denver Post]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 07.02.15

Ed. note: Above the Law will have a reduced publishing schedule today and we're off on Friday, July 3, in observance of whipping those English wankers a couple centuries ago. * After the German robot ran amok and killed a worker in a VW plant, prosecutors are struggling to figure out whom to charge in this violation of Asimov's First Law. [Josh Blackman's Blog] * Dean Erwin Chemerinsky thinks Ted Cruz is right about the Supreme Court. [The New Republic] * In the wake of Obergefell, Bloomberg chats with Margaret H. Marshall, the former chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, who wrote the opinion making that state the first to legalize same-sex marriage. [Big Law Business / Bloomberg BNA] * California February bar exam results. A couple of schools got a 100 percent passage rate. Stanford was not one of them. [Bar Exam Stats] * Love wins. The Chamber of Commerce wins more. [Constitutional Accountability Center] * A not-entirely-partisan argument that Justice Scalia should retire. He may be slipping into William O. Douglas circa 1975 territory. [Dorf on Law] * Did you know that David Lat was supposed to play Quentin Tarantino's role in Pulp Fiction? I didn't either until I saw this video (at 0:48). [ClickHole]

By Joe Patrice
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.12.15

* Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of the UC Irvine School of Law thinks it's time for California to follow New York's lead and adopt the Uniform Bar Exam. After all, if doctors don't have to take separate exams each time they move to a new state, lawyers shouldn't have to do it either. [Los Angeles Times] * A jury just returned a verdict of $0 for a police officer who was severely burned after spilling a cup of free Starbucks coffee in his lap. The pictures of the burns that were used as evidence are pretty nasty, so you'll obviously want to check them out. [NPR; WTVD] * According to a survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep, 56 percent of recent law grads would have preferred to condense their schooling to two years, while just 34 percent of prospective law students felt similarly. Oh, to be that naive again. [National Law Journal] * Violent besties? As it turns out, the gun altercation George Zimmerman was involved in yesterday was apparently part of some sort of ongoing feud with Matthew Apperson, the same man he threatened to kill in a road rage incident last year. [Crimesider / CBS News] * If you're wondering what you should do during the summer before going to law school, then you can take the advice of this future gunner and possibly enroll in a pre-law prep course and work yourself to death, or you can relax. It's up to you. [The Diamondback]

By Staci Zaretsky
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 03.11.15

* As we mentioned, U.S. News is giving law schools less credit for hiring their own grads. Rumor has it that a few schools would've done better in the rankings but for their high percentage of school-funded jobs. Which ones? [WSJ Law Blog] * Two students in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity from Oklahoma University were expelled after a video of their racist chanting was leaked online. Lawyers want to know: was their expulsion a First Amendment violation? [Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post] * UC Irvine Law debuted on the 2016 U.S. News law school rankings at No. 30, missing Dean Erwin Chemerinsky's goal of starting out as a Top 20 school. Not to worry, Dean, there are still ways to game the rankings. Keep your head up! [National Law Journal] * Don't bother delaying your law school education just because the economy's bad. The professors who told us that a law degree is worth $1 million think that its value will only drop by about $30K in times when unemployment is high. Yeah, okay. [ABA Journal] * The grisly murder of DLA Piper associate David Messerschmitt, who was found stabbed to death in a Washington, D.C., hotel, remains unsolved. Police are still searching for the "person of interest" who was seen on video from the hotel's security camera. [Legal Times]

By Staci Zaretsky
Non-Sequiturs

Non-Sequiturs: 02.02.15

* D.C. Circuit upholds FTC decision that Pom Wonderful deceived consumers with disease-fighting claims. Next thing you know they're going to say Red Bull doesn't really give you wings. [Chronicle of Higher Education] * Macklemore is looking for an intern. Probably going to find a lawsuit instead. [LXBN] * Now that the Super Bowl is over, Glendale can get back to focusing on how they're going broke because of that stadium. Once again, publicly funded stadiums are a terrible idea on par with running a quick slant instead of running the best back in football up the gut for one yard. [Americans For Tax Reform] * In case you were interested, Sheldon Silver's former employer makes serious bank. [Page Six / New York Post] * A quick and easy summary of amici briefs filed in King v. Burwell. [Balkinization] * Dean Chemerinsky in a wide-ranging interview about the Supreme Court and its failings. As you'd expect from the author of The Case Against the Supreme Court (affiliate link). [Concurring Opinions] * Richard Hsu talks to Kelly Perdew, who won the Apprentice back when the show was about finding competent businesspeople instead of helping Jose Canseco squeeze out 15 more minutes of fame. [Hsu Untied]

By Joe Patrice
Cars

Non-Sequiturs: 08.27.14

* Dean Chemerinsky lays out how the Supreme Court is protecting local corruption. It’s what the Framers would have intended. [New York Times] * In response to the latest article from Professor Michael Krauss, a former student suggests that maybe the so-called “justice gap” is a good thing. It kind of comes down to how much you believe in the efficiency value of the “American Rule.” [That's My Argument] * The eternal question for female lawyers: do you dye your hair or embrace the gray? [Gray Hair] * Boston’s drivers suck. [The Faculty Lounge] * A well-written tribute to a Nashville civil rights lawyer. [Nashville Scene] * This seems like a place to remind people that David’s going to Houston next month. [Above the Law] * Here’s a new game to check out. It’s a twisted dirty word game called F**ktionary (affiliate link), so obviously it was made by a lawyer. It’s kind of like Cards Against Humanity meets Scattergories, which is just as fun as it sounds. The promo is after the jump….

By Joe Patrice
7th Circuit

Morning Docket: 08.27.14

* Judge Posner dished out a whole lot of benchslaps at yesterday’s Seventh Circuit arguments over Indiana and Wisconsin’s bans on same-sex marriage. [BuzzFeed] * Major U.S. and Canadian law firms chow down on Burger King’s whopper of a deal with Tim Hortons. [Am Law Daily] * A recent Delaware court ruling on attorney-client privilege might allow in-house lawyers to speak more freely about wrongdoing at their companies, according to Professor Steven Davidoff Solomon. [DealBook / New York Times] * The corruption trial of former Virginia governor continues; yesterday Bob McDonnell’s sister took the stand. [Washington Post] * A favorable evidentiary ruling for Aaron Hernandez. [Fox Sports] * And good news for Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu, the two law professors running for governor and lieutenant governor of New York: the Times dissed their opponent, Andrew Cuomo, with a non-endorsement. [New York Times] * I recently spoke with one of my cousins Joao Atienza of the Cebu Sun Star, about Above the Law and the world of legal blogging. [Cebu Sun Star]

By David Lat
Defamation

Non-Sequiturs: 04.16.14

* ATTENTION LAW STUDENTS: Tomorrow is the last day to enter our annual Law Revue competition. The deadline is tomorrow at 5 so send them in. Entries have been coming in all day, so don't get left out. [Above the Law] * It looks like the Supreme Court just made a decision even worse than McCutcheon. [SCOTUSBlog] * New York's disciplinary procedures for lawyers are "deficient in design and operation." So come to New York if you plan on being a shady lawyer, I guess. [NY Times] * More on the law school apology by Erwin Chemerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow that Lat wrote about yesterday. [The Write Stuff] * And, hey, while we’re at it, here’s Steven J. Harper’s take on the same Op-Ed. [The Lawyer Bubble] * UC Hastings Professor Osagie Obasogie is quoted in this informative piece about the changing nature of collegiate debate as it ventures more and more into the domain of critical race theory. As one of the people who helps run the CEDA tournament discussed in the article, I thought this was an interesting account. [The Atlantic] * FBI makes a cheesy video to teach young Americans not to spy for China. It’s really worth a watch. [National Journal] * A high school teacher in Australia won a defamation suit against a student who said mean things on Facebook. [IT-Lex] * The Legal Broadcast Network interviewed Kyle McEntee of Law School Transparency about how improved tools help law students. [Legal Broadcast Network]

By Joe Patrice